On November 6th, the 16th Belt and Road Eco-Agriculture and Food Safety Forum was successfully held in Shanghai as a concurrent event of the 6th China International Import Expo. The forum was hosted by the State Administration for Market Regulation and co-organized by the Shanghai Municipal Administration for Market Regulation, the Development Research Center of the State Administration for Market Regulation, and the Secretariat of the Belt and Road Eco-Agriculture and Food Safety Forum. Gong Guoqiang, Deputy Director General of Department of Food Safety Standards, Risk Surveillance and Assessment of National Health Commission, attended the opening ceremony of the forum and delivered a speech at the Keynote Speech.
Gong Guoqiang, Deputy Director General of Department of Food Safety Standards, Risk Surveillance and Assessment of National Health Commission, delivered a speech
Esteemed guests, ladies, and gentlemen,
Good morning! I am delighted to participate in the 16th Belt and Road Eco-Agriculture and Food Safety Forum. It’s a great opportunity to share the progress in the construction of China’s food safety standard system. On behalf of the Department of Food Safety Standards, Risk Surveillance and Assessment of the National Health Commission, I express warm congratulations on the convening of this forum!
President Xi Jinping has emphasized that the health of the people is the foundation of social civilization progress, an important symbol of national prosperity and national strength, and a common pursuit of the people. To ensure the health of the public and promote economic and social development, the National Health Commission carries out responsibilities such as food safety standards, risk monitoring, and risk assessment. We practice the principle of ‘the strictest standards,’ implement the concept of ‘broad food vision,’ and focus on ‘guarding the bottom line, preventing risks, and promoting development.’ We continuously improve the national food safety standard system based on risk monitoring and assessment.
1. We promote the in-depth development of the standard system, ensuring safe, nutritious, and healthy eating practices. We have issued 1,563 national food safety standards, encompassing general standards, product standards, process control norms, and inspection methods and procedures. These standards cover over 340 food categories and key risk factors affecting food safety in China, such as contaminants, mycotoxins, pathogenic microorganisms, pesticide residues, and veterinary drug residues. They cover the entire chain from production to consumption and standardize all aspects of the process, protecting all population groups. Comparisons with international standards show that China’s food safety standard system framework and principles are consistent with the Codex Alimentarius, providing a solid guarantee for risk management and effectively enhancing food safety governance and health protection.
2. Based on implementing ‘an all-encompassing approach to food,’ we aid industrial development through safety assessments. We have established an accurate and efficient food safety risk monitoring and assessment system. We have deepened the reform in managing new food materials, food additives, and food-related products, and carried out pilot projects on substances that are both traditional food and Chinese medicinal materials. We have re-issued lists such as the ‘List of Edible Fungus’ and ‘List of Edible Fungus that Can Be Used in Infant Food,’ and approved new substances such as 2 types of human milk oligosaccharides (HMOs) as nutritional fortifiers, standardizing and promoting the healthy development of the dairy industry while protecting public health.
3. We are actively promoting widespread nutritional education and awareness to enhance the public’s understanding of health and nutrition. This is achieved through initiatives like the National Nutrition Plan and the Healthy China Reasonable Diet Action, which involve extensive guidance on balanced diets and focused education for specific groups, such as infants, pregnant and lactating women, and the elderly. We have published guidelines like the ‘Chinese Dietary Guidelines (2022)’ and ‘Chinese Dietary Nutrient Reference Intake (2023),’ tailored to the actual dietary consumption and nutritional status of Chinese residents. These guidelines provide healthy dietary principles for various demographic groups throughout the lifecycle. One of the key recommendations is the consumption of various dairy products, equivalent to over 300ml of liquid milk daily. This advice aims to guide the public in making scientifically informed dairy choices and maintaining a balanced diet, thus transitioning people from merely ‘eating safely’ to ‘eating healthily.’
The dairy industry is an essential component of a Healthy China, symbolizing the intersection of food safety and nutritional health. In terms of dairy safety standards, the Commission has set and announced over a hundred national food safety standards, including ‘Pasteurized Milk.’ These standards cover a wide range of areas, including fresh milk, dairy products, infant formula, process control norms, and supporting inspection methods, and are integrated with general food safety standards to form a complete and systematic dairy safety standard system. In recent years, based on China's dairy safety monitoring and assessment, international standards research progress, and the transformation and development of the dairy industry, we have introduced three new standards for infant milk powder: ‘Infant Formula Food,’ ‘Follow-up Formula Food,’ and ‘Young Children Formula Food.’ These standards ensure the safety and nutritional adequacy of infant formula, enhancing its quality and competitiveness. Moreover, we have updated the standards for ‘Cheese,’ ‘Processed Cheese and Cheese Products,’ further aligning with international equivalents, driving industry development, and catering to diverse consumer needs. We've also released revised standards like ‘Good Manufacturing Practice for Infant Formula Food’ and ‘Good Manufacturing Practice for Dairy Products’ for process control, meeting production control requirements for new types of products such as liquid infant formula, thus fostering orderly industry growth.
Presently, with changing dietary structures and increasing demands for nutritional health, consumers hold higher expectations for dairy products in terms of safety and nutritional quality. In line with the commitment to build a Healthy China and meet the growing health needs of the public, the dairy industry faces heightened expectations and demands for the effective application of standards as regulatory guides. Currently, China’s dairy safety standard system is largely complete. Building on this foundation, related departments and industries are successively developing and releasing dairy-related quality grade standards and group standards, complementing, and synergistically enhancing the safety standards. National food safety standards serve as mandatory entry thresholds, prioritizing safety and industry development. These standards are set with the primary goal of safeguarding public health and safety and are legally mandatory. In contrast, food quality standards, which are more aspirational, lead to industry development. Establishing recommendatory dairy quality standards that demand higher quality and encompass nutritional health, in addition to complying with food safety standards, will facilitate a synergistic effect between safety and quality standards. This approach is key to enhancing the dairy industry’s brand competitiveness and better meeting the public's nutritional health needs. The National Health Commission’s Food Division, in collaboration with relevant departments and industries, is committed to advancing the construction of the ‘most rigorous standards’ system in the dairy industry. This initiative aims to promote high-quality industry development and collectively safeguard the food safety and nutritional health of the public.
The Belt and Road Eco-Agriculture and Food Safety Forum offers an important platform for deepening international cooperation in food safety. We are eager to collaborate with various parties, embracing the Belt and Road spirit of peaceful cooperation, openness, mutual learning, and mutual benefit. By strengthening international exchanges and deepening cooperation in the field of food safety, we aim to actively promote the development of food safety in China and share governance and benefits in food safety with countries along the Belt and Road.
We wish this forum a great success. Thank you!
The theme of the forum is, ‘Deepening the Belt and Road Cooperation in Agriculture and Food: Jointly Creating a Better Life for Humanity.’ Leaders from the State Administration for Market Regulation, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, National Health Commission, General Administration of Customs, as well as leaders from Shanghai, Henan, Hainan, and other provincial governments, representatives of provincial market supervision departments, representatives of relevant United Nations organizations, the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, and embassies of South Africa, the Netherlands, Colombia, Sri Lanka, Bulgaria, Tanzania, Senegal, among others, along with over 400 delegates from domestic and international enterprises, participated in the forum. Guests collectively deliberated on agricultural cooperation and food industry development, contributing insights and strategies for the high-quality development of agriculture and food industries in the Belt and Road Initiative, highlighting the role of the forum as a platform for policy interpretation.
2023 marks the 10th anniversary of the proposal of the Belt and Road Initiative and the 10th anniversary of the Belt and Road Eco-Agriculture and Food Safety Forum. Over the past decade, the forum has been successfully held for 15 sessions within the framework of the National Food Safety Publicity Week and the China International Import Expo. The forum has solidly promoted high-quality joint construction of the Belt and Road, extensively conducted exchanges and cooperation in the agricultural and food industries, played a significant role in the development and safety of agricultural food industries in the countries along the route, and facilitated smooth international trade among the Belt and Road countries.
